Forbidden Dreams
by FrozenLights
Summary: In Your Place sequel. Obito tore a gaping hole in the team when he died - but then he returned. Only, how long could this dream last? With Kakashi a jinchuriki and with growing concerns over Obito's body, it seems like they'd have to fight to keep their happily ever after.


**A/N**: Updates will be irregular and slow.

Honestly, this chapter was supposed to be a small prequel scene, but then it just expanded on me. Next chapter's the actual reactions between Kakashi et alia… (sorry :D On the other hand, this gives you guys a chance to tell me what you might wanna see…?)

**Last time on 'In Your Place': **Kakashi pretended he was Rin and got kidnapped by Kiri. Rin found him after he escaped, and then Obito found the both of them. Suspecting that the seal holding the Sanbi inside of him was weak, he tried tricking and persuading his team to leave him. Eventually, Minato finds them, fixes the seal, and summons Gamabunta to carry them back. But because he was exhausted from his last mission, Minato could only order Rin and Obito to keep recent events a secret before passing out.

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**Chapter One**

**Mine**

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Tightening her hold around Kakashi's legs, Rin carefully shifted her weight to the right so that she could lean against Minato-sensei's side. She reached out blindly for Obito's hand to check his pulse (and to see if he was still here) and frowned. It was steady, but …fainter then she had remembered.

Hesitantly reassured, she withdrew her hand and let herself be rocked by Gamabunta's jumps once more. Ignoring how Minato-sensei's feathery hair tickled at her cheek, she determinedly fished out her sensei's arm.

Pushing down his sleeve with one hand, she clasped their hands together. His fingers were as heavily calloused as she remembered. As she synchronized her chakra flow to his so that she could help him replenish his reserves, she thought back to recent events.

In hindsight, she admitted that going after Kakashi by herself had been a little dumb. Then again, considering that she had managed to convince Gai to go along with her plan, maybe it wasn't that reckless.

She ignored the fact that she was using Gai as a standard of sanity.

It was true that she hadn't exactly been coolheaded, but it wasn't like she had broken any rules or any of her medical oaths.

Kakashi's feverish heat pressed against her arm, a steady reminder of recent events, even through the thick fabric of his pants.

Perhaps, she should reinterpret those oaths. It wouldn't be like she would be ignoring them exactly. After all, that was against the fourth rule, which no one really bothered to recite during their exams anymore.

**Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Hyakugou Seal are permitted to discard the laws. **

Or as her friend Chiyojo had summarized, "Unless you're Tsunade-sama, just bother with the first three."

As the wind tugged and teased at her hair, Rin whispered those oft-repeated words to herself, "One, never stop healing."

**No medic nin shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end.**

Feeling her chakra levels dip low, she cut off the flow and simply held her sensei's hand, letting herself revel in the reassuring warm weight, "Two, no front lines."

**No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines.**

She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she stated the last rule, "Three, martyrdom's for those left alone."

**No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon.**

During training, she had thought that the first rule was the hardest because of its physical demands. Obito was habitually clumsy and Kakashi just kept _pushing_ himself. For those first few days as a team, training for her involved chasing and distracting the two of them long enough so that they'd show more skin then hastily wrapped bandages.

As the war escalated and more and more inexperienced teams were sent to the field, she thought that watching others throw themselves into danger without her was the most difficult demand.

Obito's death didn't exactly help.

Sometimes, after his death, she'd look at the night sky and hate him until her jaw ached from clenching her teeth so hard, so that she wouldn't scream. She'd hate him for leaving, hate him for asking her to extract his eye while he was still awake and trembling beneath her hands, and hate him for wasting his last words on her.

She was almost glad that Kakashi had cut off her confession before it could be made that day. If he _had_ accepted her confession…

She could still remember the feel of Kakashi's bony shoulders under her fingers after his evaluation with the Uchiha elders.

If he had accepted, she knew she would have woken up one day, wondering if he was returning her feelings out of obligation or if they were actually genuine. With Obito's eye watching over the both of them out of Kakashi's face, the thought would have plagued her incessantly. With that realization, she had felt guiltily relieved when Kakashi had given into her suggestion of conserving his chakra by allowing her to gently pull down his forehead protector to cover that eye.

Then, just when she thought that the hole in their team was starting to scab over, Kakashi was gone – and then past gone.

_Drop it, Rin. Go back_.

As if she could.

She suspected the inkling that the second rule wasn't the hardest had been planted right when Gai had confessed Kakashi's harebrained scheme _(to protect her because she was so damn useless)_. But with Kakashi on her shoulders, insisting that she let him _die,_ while she struggled to dodge the senses of their pursuers, she was sure – the third rule of a medic-nin was the hardest.

By that rule, a perfect medic-nin should be prepared to stand at the gravestones of her teammates.

She wasn't a perfect medic nin; maybe it was horrible, but she'd rather her teammates stand at her headstone, if there had to be a headstone.

Medic nins were considered to be both the strength and weakness of a team – the person that supplied the endurance, but also the soft under-belly. It was just a fact of war that she'd taken in at the time. She wasn't interested in glory; she just wanted to be useful.

But.

At this rate, she was going to be the death of her team. Every time she was targeted, her boys had come to defend her _- to take the blows._

It was a little late to find a new fighting style, but she remembered how her mind had dwelled upon the horrific effects of medical mistakes. _Just one slip of the hand_…

She recalled how often she had contemplating making those "mistakes" on the enemy who had ambushed Kakashi. And while she had her hopes and desperate dreams answered far beyond her wildest imaginations, she wasn't sure how long _it _could last.

She hadn't missed how Minato-sensei had impressed the need to hide Kakashi's new occupant and Obito himself altogether. Perhaps she was paranoid, but with her team's luck, she wouldn't be surprised those words meant that he had foreseen another threat to her team's safety.

Twisting her head, she recognized a monument in the distance, causing her to tighten her hold on both Kakashi and Minato.

She was keeping her team together, even if it meant perverting what she had been taught.

Releasing her hold on her sensei's hand, she leaned forward, over Kakashi, to prod Obito. When he didn't respond, she gave his shoulder a light shake, "Obito? Come on, we're five minutes out from the village gates. You need to wake up."

Nothing.

Carefully, she slipped out from under Kakashi. Placing one foot at his side to ensure that he wouldn't be dropped, she coated her other foot with chakra to anchor herself down. Leaning down, she patted Obito's cheeks again, "Obito? Come on, you need to henge yourself."

Feeling her heartbeat speed up and the familiar tingling of nerves, she waited for Gamabunta to land and darted two fingers just under Obito's jawline.

_Come on, come on, comeon_.

She reflexively tensed her muscles in time to hold her hand stead as the toad jumped. It felt like something was physically hanging onto her diaphragm, making it hard to draw any breath. She closed her eyes as a steady thrum came through.

She let out a breath in relief, only to tense as she opened her eyes and realized that she was almost out of time. _What was she going to do now? _

The moon chose that moment to peek out from behind the clouds, briefly illuminating the faces of her two teammates in apparent slumber. She twisted her mouth as a flash of a memory danced through her mind.

_It was inappropriate… but…_

Heh. Her lips tilted upwards – a glimpse of a devilish smile. It would serve Kakashi right. She was also sure that Obito wouldn't mind… much. It was his fault he was still asleep. She swallowed past the worry in her throat. Reaching out, she used the Shosen jutsu to confirm that he was stable.

She darted a look up as the village gates swam into view.

_Here goes nothing. _

"Henge."

With a puff of smoke, Obito disappeared to be replaced with a full-size stuffed doll-like pillow in Gai's likeness. Grunting, she released her hold on Kakashi for a moment so that she could grab the doll, which she then shoved on top of Kakashi.

Leaning forward, she used her body weight to hold her team in place on the toad. Quickly, she tore a piece of fabric from her sleeve, which she then used to secure Kakashi's arms around the doll. Shooting quick glances up at her surroundings, she realized that they were very nearly at the village gates.

Picking up her pace, she heaved Kakashi next to their sensei and then settled herself between the two of them, with her arms outstretched across their chests.

"Halt! Identify yourselves."

She closed her eyes, bracing for the jolt as Gamabunta came to a stop and and rumbled "Am I that forgettable?!"

"It's Minato! Send word to the Sandaime!"

"His team's not due back for another week."

"It's _him_, don't be ridiculous."

As the chatter of familiar voices washed over her, she took a shaky breath. _They were back. _

"Damn punks," Gamabunta muttered. He craned around, causing her to hurriedly reapply chakra to her muscles to keep her team from falling down, "Well girly, I'm letting you off here."

Straining to keep both the henge and her teammates in place, she gave the toad boss an awkward smile, "Could you help-?"

Before she could continue, Gamabunta had reached back to grab them in one giant fist. She closed her eyes as the world inverted upon itself and held her tongue as the toad boss poured them out on the floor. Once she felt solid ground beneath her feet, she managed to shakily stand up and give a small bow to Minato-sensei's summon, "Thank you!"

"Yea, yea, tell Minato he owes me a drink."

With that, he left, leaving her alone with the village guards and her unconscious team. As they approached, she quickly tried to take control over the situation. Holding her arms over her head, she stepped in front of her teammates, "Sensei's suffering from chakra exhaustion and slight hypertension due to dehydration. He needs to be put on a saline drip immediately."

_Sorry sensei_. She knew how much Minato hated the hospital. _But you never said what to do with you… and I need a distraction_.

She resisted the urge to bite her lip when she noticed that she hadn't been able to distract the attention of the apparent guard in charge, who had waved his men over to take Minato. By the markings on his face and his sharpened nails, he was most likely an Inuzaka. He glanced over, clearly studying the body on the ground, "Who else is – the Hatake brat?"

Even if she couldn't see his expression very well in the darkness, she could still hear the disbelief and surprise in his voice.

She forced a grin on her face and, doing her best to exude exhausted confidence and aggravation, replied "Yeah, sensei found him on the way back. I was out doing my rounds and well…"

Seeing the pearly white of his incisors flash in a grin (_apparently the stunt Kakashi had pulled for me had reached some ears?_), she continued, "I figured I'd teach him a lesson." Even if most people weren't exactly familiar with Kakashi himself, they usually had heard of the rivalry between him and Gai. Everyone pretty much considered Gai an open-book, and if she could just take advantage of that…

She widened her smile and lowered her face just slightly so that her lashes could seem a little bit longer, "I don't suppose you have a camera?"

At his right, a large black dog trotted up as the guard began to laugh. She forced her breath to remain even as the dog sniffed the air and gave a soft woof.

Whatever he said just made the guard laugh harder, "Don't tell me that's really Gai you have under a henge."

She laughed, dipping her head.

Of course, that was when the actual Gai charged into the clearing. With a sinking heart, she saw him take in the situation at a glance, "Rin! You're back!"

He swept her into a hug. But before she could respond, as she saw the head guard begin to frown, Gai had dropped her and taken a step back. With a leap that could only be considered as casual by him, Gai landed next to Kakashi.

"KAKASHI!"

As the head guard hissed at Gai to lower his voice, Gai flung Kakashi, doll and all, onto his back in a rough approximation of a piggyback hold, "Alright! Since you can't race with me right now, I'll help you out!"

With that said in a barely hushed tone, he charged off. Rin noted how none of the guards reacted, apparently already familiar with her friend's antics. She guessed that they weren't too suspicious considering they'd arrived with Minato-sensei and had been given an informal vouch by Gai.

Flashing an embarrassed smile at the guard, she awkwardly pointed a finger in the air, "Do you mind if I accompany my teammate? I mean, uh, I just…"

The Inuzaka shook his head and waved a hand at her, "Just go. I'll let the Hokage know that your teammate's been recovered."

She gave a nervous laugh and back away slowly. Her caution was really unnecessary though, as the guards had already started to disperse, heading back to their original posts. Once they were gone, she ran. Gai had to know that something was up.

-0-

Jiraiya stared in consternation as the woman in front of him clutched his student possessively. He frowned for a moment only to then smile as an idea came to him. Opening his mouth, he started to speak only to be cut off by a vehement "No."

He pouted, "Kushina…"

"I saw him first."

_Well if she was going to play it that way_. "I _got_ him first."

Seeing her eyes narrow and her hair fan outwards, almost indignantly, he added, "I taught him."

"So? He loves me."

"He loves me too."

Seeing her waggle an eyebrow at him, he resisted the urge to bury his face in his hand. He blamed his walking straight into that one on his sleep deprived state. Actually, he blamed this entire situation on his exhaustion and her pregnancy hormones. Grumbling, he amended, "As a student."

Seeing her triumphant smile at his own chagrin, he added, "Duh."

Her smile vanished and she rearranged the bundle in her arms. _Minato_. That kid had really been spreading himself thin. _Lucky for him, he had a talented teacher by his side._

"I still got him from the hospital."

_And her. _ He didn't know why she was having a checkup at night, when she was supposed to be asleep like any other sane person. However, he supposed it was better that she had found and "convinced" the medical personnel to release Minato from the hospital.

He crossed his arms, "I smoothed things over. You wouldn't be able to keep him out of the hospital if it weren't for me."

She waved a hand dismissively at him with a wild smile. Opening her mouth to retort, she stopped and stiffened.

He could feel it too. Frowning, he turned to the door just as Rin burst in with Gai on her heels, carrying Kakashi and a ….stuffed version of himself?

He blinked. Beside him Kushina snorted at the image of Kakashi hugging a Gai plush doll.

Dammit, where was his camera?

"Kushina! Minato-sensei said – Jiraiya?!"

"Rin, Gai, what are you two doing here?"

Rin panted, "Sorryforbreakingin." She visibly swallowed before gasping out, "Minato-sensei said emergency – "

Kushina rolled her eyes and held out her arms to take Kakashi from Gai. As Gai relinquished his burden, Rin sagged to the floor, "Has to be secret."

As Kushina held Kakashi with one hand, she began to untie his arms using her other hand, "Rin, what are you-?"

"Secret," Rin insisted in between her breaths. Jiraiya frowned at the pallor of her skin. _Minato, what have you been up to?_

Perhaps it was Rin's pleading eyes, or maybe just her general impatience, but Kushina huffed out, "Fine, ok!"

With that, Rin fell over just as Kushina made a noise of surprise and pitched forward as the bundle in her arms changed forms, and apparently weight.

Quickly, Jiraiya lunged forward only for Kushina to grunt and lean back. That was when they both noticed what, or rather who, she now carried.

_Obito?_

The boy reminded him of another comeback he could use. It was an inappropriate response, but when had he ever been appropriate? He blinked, "I saw his team first."

Kushina stuck out her tongue.

-0-

In the darkness of the cave, a white figure gradually emerged from the ground.

"They're all alive."

Incompetence. How he loathed it. Madara frowned, "With the Sanbi?"

"Yes, it was sealed in Obito's friend."

"Which one?"

"Hatake Kakashi."

Madara hummed. This was a slight disruption to his plans, but it could easily be remedied. The boy would still return to him. After all, the only change in this little drama was that two minor characters had switched places. It would be just as easy to adapt his plans for the boy in place of the girl.

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**A/N Cont:** Good news (maybe?) is that I'm roughly 1k words into the next chapter is. Bad news is I'm focusing on Troublesome Timing. That said, anyone want to beta this story? I'm just looking for someone to catch the major typos and maybe voting for certain scenes.

Anyway, thoughts/requests will definitely be appreciated. I'm writing this story for more pure enjoyment as opposed to the exploration piece that Troublesome Timing is. I currently have no pairings for this story. Though I might post scenes with pairings separately on Ao3 depending on reviews or whatever.

idk. Thanks for reading!


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